The War of the Roses
Directed by Danny DeVito
- comedy
- drama
The story
Barbara and Oliver Rose live happily as a married couple. When Barbara starts to wonder what life would be like without Oliver and likes what she sees, the two begin a campaign to force each other to leave their house, with their divorce lawyer D'Amato caught in the middle.
What it’s like
Sleek, sun-washed 1980s domestic interiors dominate here: a glossy, meticulously designed house with pale walls, expensive modern furniture, and wide architectural rooms that become battlegrounds, shot with bright, even light and crisp, slightly stagey framing that turns each room into a stage set. The camera often holds on the two leads in mid-shot or two-shot, letting the faces do the work while the frame tightens into comic standoffs. Sound leans on brassy, buoyant orchestral cues and a jaunty score that undercuts the cruelty on screen, with sharp dialogue and sudden silences carrying much of the bite. The vibe is caustic and sardonic, a cheerful nastiness that reads as dark comedy with a bruised romantic core. It suits a sharp-tongued evening with friends, a late-night laugh, or a comfort rewatch when you want cynicism with a grin. Pacing is brisk and escalating, with each round of one-upmanship bigger than the last, and the emotional register swings between gleeful spite and genuine melancholy about a marriage gone sour. The arc follows two people who once loved each other turning into adversaries and rediscovering what they lost in the process. Intensity is high on verbal cruelty and farce, with recurring physical slapstick, real injury and a darkly comic tone around peril and death, but no graphic gore. It is for viewers who enjoy biting, adult comedy about relationships and don't need gentleness.
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